Deeper Reflection
PAUL’S PRAYER FOR DIVINE SANCTIFICATION (V.23) IS grounded on “He who calls you” (v.24). Central in our lives must be “God has called me”. This means our lives must be utterly theocentric and consciously theological. God “has called” us to “holiness” (1 Thess 4:7). Holiness is not just about sexual purity (cf. 1 Thess 4:1-8), but “be holy in all your conduct” (1 Pet 1:15-16). Biblical holiness encompasses everything in our lives, including our eating and drinking (1 Cor 10:31).There are two interrelated parts in God’s call: we answer God’s call for us and God fulfils His call for us. This call to holiness is answered by us and fulfilled by God in the already-and-not-yet eschatological tension that God has designed, and in our three-steps-forward, two-steps-back discipleship reality. And complete sanctification will happen only “at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”.Paul’s emphasis here is God’s part: “He who calls you…”. The first word and the last word in a Greek sentence show where the emphasis is. The first word and the last word in verse 24 are “faithful” and “will-do” respectively: “Faithful [is] the one calling you, who also will-do [it].”⁵¹ Note the double emphasis on God’s faithfulness. Firstly, the character of God: God is “faithful”. Secondly, the certainty about God: He “will do” it. And the divine certainty is tied to the divine character. The double emphasis on God’s faithfulness gives us a double assurance of God’s faithfulness. Verses 23 to 24 are filled entirely with God’s acts and accomplishments. And like Paul, we pray, trusting in God’s trustworthiness.

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⁵¹ Robert K. Brown and Philip W. Comfort, The New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament (Tyndale House, 1990), 718